What Now?

Have the last six months flown by you like a whirlwind? Do you feel shaken and tossed? Certainly, the events of 2021 and the beginnings of 2022 can leave the average person shaken. We are in a period of time in which everything that can be shaken is being shaken. 

God is allowing this shaking so that we will see our own hearts and discover if we really trust Him, or whether we are only giving Him lip service while we allow our own wants and desires to rule and reign in our hearts.  Only as we face uncertainty and adversity do we discover our real heart motivations. It is so easy to deceive ourselves.

And now, when we are weary of the horrors of Covid and  Afghanistan, war has engulfed Ukraine. Like many people, I have been praying and interceding.  Yes, Ukraine has had a very dark history, but a major revival has been arising in the land and the spirit of the antichrist has risen in opposition to that revival. I am praying for my brothers and sisters in Christ in Ukraine, but  I have also been impressed to pray for the Russian people, many of whom have bravely protested against the war.  Many [if not most] of the Russian troops would prefer not to be involved in this conflict.

 Where is God in this conflict?  

He is right there in the center.  Reports of miracles and wonders are coming out of Ukraine. Ukrainian Christians are seeing lightning fall from heaven, Russian tanks mysteriously run out of gas, and bombs and rockets explode harmlessly in the air.

Yet destruction still reigns and over a million people have fled the country of Ukraine. I know that believers in Russia, Ukraine, and surrounding countries are facing intense pressures and struggling to respond with the love and grace of the Lord in difficult situations with limited resources.

Why has God not stopped the war?

I can't pretend to know all the answers.  No one can see all that is going on with natural eyes, but God is moving in ways we don’t see.

 Below are the specific words I believe that the Lord has given me related to this conflict with the dates attached:

Praying for Ukraine—2/27/22—during worship at Sunday morning service:

 Belarus, You are judged.

You are judged for being a bad neighbor.

“Therefore,” the Lord says,

“Belarus, you connived and lusted over your neighbor.

Therefore, what you plotted for others will fall upon you.

All you desired to have will be lost.

All you tried to take will be taken from you until you are broken and humbled and cry out to Me—and only Me—for mercy”

 [Went home to learn Belarus had proposed holding peace talks—as a “good neighbor”].

 3/6/22—again, during worship at Sunday morning service:

 “Comfort, cry ‘Comfort’ to My people, For though their sins were as scarlet, I have heard their cries of repentance.

Heart-felt cries.  Therefore, I have applied the blood of Jesus their sins, and their sins are no more.

My people are clean.

Therefore, I speak ‘comfort,’ and hope, and security to them.”

 Behold, the Lion of Judah!  He has arisen; His roar has shaken the mountains, and the earth shall quake.

“Behold, I have arisen; I have sent out my couriers; and my heralds go before Me.

I have heard the cries; I smell the sweet incense of praise; and I see the sufferings of those who love Me; and I shall pounce.

Belarus is judged.

Russia is judged.

Ukraine is judged, and my verdicts will stand.

Be astonished at the verdicts; delight in My decrees.

For righteousness will go forth.

My victory will be established, and the forsaken and oppressed will see the power of the Lord going forth on their behalf.”

 To the Glory of God—LLW 3/6/22.

 [I got the first message and went home to find out that Belarus had offered to be a place for peace talks.  I began to declare that peace talks controlled by Belarus or any evil plotted by Belarus would not occur. When I received the second message noticed that God did not spell out exactly what verdicts were being rendered.]  

 Later, I again specifically questioned God about the war. I was bothered, knowing that God has done a number of mighty miracles in Ukraine but not stopped the war. I told God this bothered me and felt impressed with two things:

First, read Habbakuk chapter 1. I turned to Habbakuk immediately to read:

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?

Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails.

The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

 [The Lord’s Answer]

“Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed.

For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

 I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own."

Second, I was impressed that God was restraining even greater evils than those already unleashed.

 I do not fully understand what God is revealing through these things. Certainly, evil seems to be running rampant. I wonder, who are the “Babylonians”? Is another country going to become involved in the conflict? Or am I taking verse 6 too literally? What victories in the heavenlies have restrained even greater evils?

I must ponder these words. I know this:

God is in control.

He expects His Body, His Church universal, His Ekklesia,  to

            Pray

            Intercede

            Believe

            And Act to help the hurting and needy.

 Yes, it is getting darker. We do not have the option of fretting; we must keep our eyes on Jesus! He will reveal His will for us step by step as we keep our eyes on Him.